For those who will be at WDW on Christmas Day..

[cstraub]

What are your plans for making Christmas Eve and Christmas day with your family special? What are you doing about presents? How about a Christmas Tree? Where are you eating? Please do tell me all your plans!

 

[Thmacs1]

Not going this Xmas but we spent Xmas '04 at OKW. We were between moving form Palm Beach to Tampa and were basically homeless that week. WDW was a great place to be for the holidays when you don't have a home. I bought a 3 foot lighted tree at Target when we got to Orlando. (very cheap 3 days before Xmas). I also bought lights for the balcony railings and wreaths for the doors. It was fun to decorate our villa. I brought our favorite Xmas books to read at bedtime, as well as our stockings from home.
I had bought gifts and had my husband leave them at his office in Tampa. He drove back to get them on Xmas eve after the kids were in bed. I got candy and stocking stuffers and a few ornamnents in DTD. The parks had grown progressivly more crowded as it got closer to the holidyas. By Xmas day MK was a madhouse. We went first thing in the morning so I could get the limited edition Xmas pin but left almost immediately. It wa a mad house. I was very glad we had watched the parade earlier in the week. For dinner I went to Publix and got a complete Turkey meal. It was all pre-cooked and just needed to be warmed. It was really good and very fun to feel like we were having a holiday dinner at home. That night we went to Epcot to watch Illuminations. It was crowded but not the crazy scene that MK had been.
We enjoyed our holiday at WDW but honestly would not do it again. Just too many people. We really enjoy just strolling through the parks and relaxing and that just can't be done with those kinds of crowds. Now when we want to experience Xmas at WDW we go a weekend or 2 before. Not nearly the crowds and all the same decorations and events. Enjoy your holiday, with good planning it will be a wonderful experience.

 

[Jessd]

This is our first Christmas at WDW. We planned on going to Epcot in the afternoon for lunch at the Coral Reef and then Concourse Steakhouse for dinner. I am sending a tree with decorations and room decorations ahead of time to the hotel so we won't have to take it with us. I was planning on a 2 foot tree. Window clings, lights, some garland, a wreath, stuff like that. I wasn't planning on having big stockings, just little ones for everyone. We leave on the 19th, so we will probably give them a few gifts before we leave since some of the things I have been getting are for the trip. Then maybe a gift or two when we get back. But w e have told them that there is no big gift this year, the trip is their gift.

We don't plan on spending too much time in the parks, just long enough to eat lunch and walk around a bit. Most of our day will be at the hotel. Christmas Eve we will be at Islands of Adventure.